


Cigarettes Help Sometimes

by hellasammy



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Fluff, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Panic, Gay Richie Tozier, M/M, Reddie, Richie Tozier Smokes, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23658103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellasammy/pseuds/hellasammy
Summary: The Losers Club hit high school and instead of dealing with a murderous clown, they deal with their feelings. Denial in feelings leads to nothing to strained relationships and heartbreak. But to Richie, cigarettes help. Music, sexual tension, and high school drama: what more will come to the losers?
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This a high school AU that takes place in the 80s. Instead of standup, Richie's dream is to become a musician. Enjoy :)

To Richie Tozier, being a loser wasn’t half bad. He had friends: Ben, Bill, Stan, Mike, Bev, and most importantly, Eddie. He was closest to Eddie in the group, second closest to Bev (Beverly Marsh dictating herself as the mom of the group). He’d spend time at the arcade, hang around with the losers at Bill’s house, and sneak out to hang out with Eddie on occasions.

On his birthday, his dad gifted him with a guitar. After that, he never put it down. If he wasn’t at school, he most likely had it on him. Richie learned how to play and learned different songs quickly, music coming to him almost like second nature. Bev had a bass guitar so sometimes they would end up playing together out by the bridge, going through packs of stolen cigarettes as they jammed to each other’s cover melodies. 

Although, his favorite memories had to be whenever he was playing it around Eddie. Playing song after song request for the smaller boy. Even one night, when he snuck some of his dad’s whiskey out of the house, he sat behind Eddie with his arms around him as he tried to teach him to play. Richie was met with a hangover and a pissed off dad the next morning when he woke up, but waking up with his head on Eddie’s shoulder was worth it to him.

But Richie wasn’t gay, no way, he liked girls. There was no possible way that he was gay. But he would admit only to himself that he would rather hang out with Eddie than get laid by some hot chick any day.

But that totally didn’t mean Richie was gay. He was Richie "trash mouth" Tozier, not gay.

“Earth to Richie, do you copy?” Fingers snapped in front of Richie’s face as Beverly stood in front of the boy. Richie shook his head, pushing his glasses back up.

“Funny, that’s what your mom said to me last night,” Richie laughed, earning a smack from Bev and an eye roll from the rest of the group. 

“Anyways, ba-ack to what we wer-re saying. S-o, the fi-irewor-rks are to-onight, what time do you all wan-nt to meet-t up?” Bill studdered out. His shutter had gotten better, but it still acted up sometimes, especially if he was nervous. 

“Um, I don’t think my mom will let me go,” Eddie chimed in, digging through his fanny pack for his lunchtime medication. 

“Come on Eddie Spaghetti, I’ll even sneak you out,” Richie offered, bumping against his friend. He earned a couple of weird looks from the other losers, but one harsh look from the group mom Beverly was enough to keep those thoughts to themselves. 

“I don’t want to get in trouble Richie, my mom is still mad about the last time.”

Richie rolled his eyes, getting frustrated. He didn’t know why he was so sensitive when it came to spending time with Eddie, but without even thinking twice, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He took a long drag, long enough to feel the smoke burn his throat and filling his lungs, the buzz making him dizzy.

“Just try to convince your mom, please Eddie?” Stan pleaded, knowing he’d have to deal with a bitchy Richie, or no Richie at all, if Eddie did not come. 

“I’ll try.”

The bell rang, signaling for the losers to head back to class. One by one, all of them got up, except for Richie. Richie stayed seated on the ground, sucking down on his cigarette.

“You coming Rich?” Mike asked, standing nearest to Richie and extending a hand.

“I’ll catch up with you,” was all Richie said. The rest of the losers began to trek to class without Richie. Well, all except Eddie. Eddie sat back down next to Richie, picking up the carton of cigarettes.

“You know, these are bad for you. I don’t know how you or Beverly smoke,” Eddie said, examing the cigarettes like one may jump out and bite him.

Richie just shrugged his shoulders. “One day you’ll get it Spaghetti, one day.” Richie pulled another cigarette out of the carton in Eddie’s hand, lighting it with the burning remains of his first one. Richie didn’t notice Eddie stick the carton into his backpack, hoping that if he took them, maybe Richie will stop. He could hope, at least for a little bit.

Eddie and Richie sat outside together under their lunch spot’s tree. Eddie knew their class was about to start soon but knew the teacher would go easier on the two of them, rather than just Richie alone. 

“How about a deal Rich?” Eddie asked, turning to face Richie. Richie finished the last of his cigarette, chucking the butt onto the pavement before looking at Eddie.

“A deal for?”

“Me to sneak out tonight if I can’t convince my mom.”

Richie pondered on Eddie’s proposition for a few seconds before smirking at the smaller boy. “I’m listening.”

Eddie got bold, pulling Richie’s cigarettes out of his backpack. “Go the rest of the day without smoking, I’ll give these back to you tonight, but I’ll only come out if you keep your end of the deal.”

Richie was perplexed by the offer, turning his head away and crossing his arms. “How will you even know if I didn’t smoke?”

That’s when Eddie grabbed Richie by the collar of his shirt, holding his face close to his. Richie’s face grew flush quickly, this time, Eddie being the one to smirk.

“I have my ways Tozier,” Eddie let go of Richie. He stood up, backpack in one hand and the carton of cigarettes in the other. Eddie dropped the cigarettes into his backpack before zipping it up and placing it on his back. “Now, let’s get to class.”

Richie was going to keep his end. 


	2. Chapter 2

Eddie and Richie made it to class just as the bell rang, thanks to Eddie dragging Richie behind him by the sleeve. The fresh smell of cigarettes lingered on Richie and Eddie was intoxicated by the smell. He didn’t smoke because of his asthma, and normally the smell made Eddie sick to his stomach. But the way the smell of the smoke mixed with Richie’s deodorant somehow turned out to be Eddie’s favorite scent. 

Eddie hated it at first when Richie started smoking. Well, he still hates it, but somehow it’s changed in him. The first time Richie showed up with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, Eddie wouldn’t even stand near him. The stench was too much for him to handle, but now, Eddie can’t seem to get enough. 

Eddie thinks it started the first night Richie snuck over to his house. It was also the first night he got his guitar. Richie was so excited that he showed up at Eddie's house in the dead of night with his guitar slung across his back, begging Eddie to come over so he could show him. 

Eddie was hesitant at first, but seeing the pure joy across Richies face made him decide it was worth the lack of sleep that night. Eddie grabbed a jacket and shimmied out of his bedroom window, following Eddie to the park nearby. Richie lit a cigarette as he strums the cords of his new guitar, talking about the songs he wanted to learn and asking for requests from Eddie. 

Eddie can’t pinpoint the exact moment it happened, but the next thing he knew, he was yawning and leaning his head against Richie's shoulder. After that, late nights with Richie turned into a more frequent occurrence. 

But Eddie didn’t have a crush on Richie. He knew all the diseases he could get and no matter how good Richie looked in those Hawaiian shirts with a cigarette in his mouth as he leaned back with his-

Wait, what? What was Eddie thinking?

Eddie shook his head, directing his attention back to class. Subconsciously, he would glance up at Richie, imagining would it would feel like to run his fingers through his hair. Wait, no, no, no. He needed to focus on what his teacher was saying. 

This was gonna be a long day. 

* * *

The end of the school day came faster than the group was expecting. They met up outside the school on the side of the building, getting ready to walk to their spot. 

“I can’t hang out if I want a chance of coming home,” Eddie said as the group began their departure. 

“Well, what if you can’t come out!” Richie yelled at Eddie. 

Eddie shook his head at Richie, hurt that he had forgotten their deal. Eddie was planning on coming out anyways. He had never gotten to see the fall fireworks before and wasn’t go another year without seeing them. 

Richies' face contorted as if he was concentrating hard. He paused while walking, then smiled wide. Eddie's guessed that Richie remembered. 

Eddie wasn’t exactly lying about not being able to hangout. It would be easier to persuade his mom if he was home instead of out. On the other hand, if his mom wouldn’t budge he was gonna sneak out. He just really wanted to see if Richie would cave in on their deal. 

When Eddie finally hit high school, he started sleeping with his door locked. He was doing his best to distance himself from his overbearing mother. As soon as he could he would be out of that house and far away from her. But for now, he had to suck it up. 

Eddie only got caught last time he “snuck out” because Richie had ended up stealing some of his dad's whiskey and drinking it all before coming to see him. That night was the first night Richie came into his room. He could tell the other male was drunk as soon as he knocked on his window. 

_ Richie pounded on Eddie's window, stirring the boy out of his slumber. Eddie hurried out of bed, throwing open the window to shush Richie before he woke his mother up.  _

_ “Richie, what are you doing here?” Eddie asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Richie hiccuped. Swaying side to side before grabbing onto the window ledge for balance.  _

_ “I may have gotten in a fight with my dad,” Richie hiccuped again, holding a fist against his mouth and swallowing hard. “And I stole his whiskey as a big fuck youu,” the you was drawn out until Richie hiccuped again. He started giggling, looking back at Eddie.  _

_ “Richie you’re drunk! Why are you not in bed!” Eddie was concerned for his friend. Richie waved off Eddies' worry, but let go of a ledge to do so and ended up on the ground.  _

_ Eddie shook his head, closing the window and grabbing the blanket off his bed. He slowly snuck through his house, hoping not to wake his mom up. He made it out the front door and ran to the side of his house to find Richie laying down in the grass. _

_ Eddie sat down next to Richie, wrapping the blanket around them. Richie took his guitar from his shoulder and set it on the grass. He pulled the carton of cigarettes from his pocket along with his lighter.  _

_ “Why do you smoke Rich?” Eddie asked, watching Richie stick one between his lips and light it.  _

_ “It helps, in its own twisted away. Helps me forget,” Richie exhaled, making sure to blow the smoke away from Eddie.  _

_ “Forget what Richie?” Eddie was concerned for his friend, placing a hand on his back.  _

_ “Things I don’t want to remember, things I’d rather take to my grave.” _

_ “You know you can always tell me.” _

_ Richie shook his head, looking over at Eddie. “You’d never talk to me if I did.” _

_ The two boys sat in silence, the sounds of the night and Richies burning cigarettes filling the air between them. Neither one of them knows how long they were there until Richie threw the empty carton.  _

_ “I should leave, I’m sorry,” Richie went to stand up but Eddie grabbed his shoulder.  _

_ “Spend the night, please? I don’t want you to walk home like this,” Eddie pleaded to Richie. His eyes wide as every worse case scenario ran through his head.  _

_ Richie sighed, grabbing his guitar and using it to stand up. “Fine, I guess I can spend the night. Don’t wanna go home anyways,” the last part was mumbled but Eddie didn’t care. He hugged Richie tight and took his hand. He let the other to his room, shutting and locking the door behind them.  _

_ Richie sat down on the floor and pulled his guitar into his lap. Eddie took a seat next to him, plucking one of the strings. Richie slid the guitar into Eddie's arm, reaching around Eddie from the back and moving his hands.  _

_ “Place your fingers here,” Richie positioned Eddie's fingers along the different strings, then placed his hand on top of the other to strum the chords. “That’s an A chord.”  _

_ Richie continued to move Eddie's fingers across the strings until he started fading out into unconsciousness. Eddie smiled, setting the guitar down and shaking Richie back awake.  _

_ Richie groaned, leaning his head again Eddie. Eddie managed to get Richie to stand up enough to push up onto the bed but came crashing down with him. Stuck to Richie's chest, Eddie panicked. The other boy rolled over, freeing Eddie for his grasp.  _

_ Richie was… cute. His mouth slightly agape, hair tussled, and glasses askew. Eddie chuckled softly to himself as he removed Richie's glasses, setting them down on the nightstand. He leaned over and grabbed the blanket, pulling it over both of them as he laid down. He was back to back with Richie, snuggling in his arms.  _

_ He knew Richie wouldn’t remember this part in the morning but Eddie was okay with that. Tonight, he was okay sleeping in the arms of his best friend. He was okay with the fact that his best friend was cuddling him to sleep and that they were both guys. Eddie usually wasn’t okay with it, but tonight, he was okay with it.  _

The next morning his mom almost broke down the door after an angry Mr. Tozier called. He was able to hide him and Richie sleeping in the same bed from her, lying that he slept on the floor. She was pissed off about that but it was better than her knowing he was sleeping with Richie. 

Mr. Tozier was waiting outside for him and dragged his son into the car. Eddies mom blasted him for having Richie in the house, but he stormed off in the middle of her lecture. He slammed his bedroom door and slid down, pulling his knees to his chest. 

Eddie pulled the blanket off of his bed and held it tight. It smelled like Richie. Eddie sobbed against his knees as he hugged the blanket. 

But Eddie ~~did~~ didn't have a crush on Richie. 


	3. Chapter 3

After Eddie said his goodbyes to the group, Richie stayed silent. Beverly offered him a cigarette, but Richie declined. She just shrugged her shoulders, sitting next to Ben as she puffed on the stick.

“So Richie, you still play right?” Mike asked, pulling Richie out of his dazed state.

“Yeah, of course, I still play. Why you asking?”

“You know that new band the Chasers? I guess their lead guitarist got kicked out or something and they’re holding auditions on Friday.”

“Wait are you serious? That’s awesome!” Richie was ecstatic. His dream was to become a rockstar, play in an awesome band, and tour around the world. If he nailed these auditions, this would be his chance.

“I heard about that, it’s it at that one bar? The Joystick, or something? And isn’t it during school hours?” Stan chimed in on the conversation. Stan was kinda like the dad of the group. He knew that Richie had a tendency to not show up at school, a lot. Stan had been there for Richie the many times his dad had gotten on Richie’s ass about skipping school. AKA, Richie’s dad beating him for skipping school.

“I’ll just say I’m 18, it’ll be fine,” Richie waved off the group’s concern. “Besides, it would only matter if I made it, right?”

Bev smacked him, rolling her eyes. “You’re good Rich, I’m sure you’ll make it.” 

The rest of the group agreed, adding their own words of encouragement for Richie. Richie smiled, pushing his glasses up. A lot of people in his life discouraged him: His dad, the bullies at school, random bystanders that may be around whenever he plays outside. It gave him hope for his future.

“Next order of business, are we getting food before or after?” Ben asked, earning laughs from the group as they all made their way towards Bill’s house.

* * *

Eddie, on the other hand, was dealing with a much more heated talk at his house.

“You’re not going Eds! You could get sick!” Eddie’s mother, Sonia Kaspbrak, yelled at her son. Eddie shook his head, backing away from his mother.

“I’ll be careful mom I promise! I’ve never been able to go, it’s not fair,” Eddie sighed, looking up at his mom. “You can’t keep me locked away in here forever!”

Sonia backed Eddie into the corner, taking his face in her hands. “Oh Eds, it’s to protect you. I just love you so much.”

Eddie shoved his mom away from him, he stomped towards the kitchen. “I’ll be with my friends! I’ll be fine!”

Sonia now was the one shaking her head, chasing after her son. “Oh, is that boy who snuck in here the other night one of your so-called friends? He smelled like cigarettes, Eddie! You know that he may a… you know.”

Eddie filled with rage, slamming his hands down on the counter before exploding at his mother. “He’s what mom! He’s what? If you say what you think you’re going to say, just say it! Richie is my best friend and that is it! I would know if he was gay!” Eddie screamed at the top of his lungs. Eddie ran to his room as his mom yelled after him. He slammed his door shut and locked it. 

Eddie knew what people said about Richie, what some people said about him too. He got called a fag at school, his dad calls him gay, and even his mom thinks that Richie is going to give him a bunch of diseases from being ‘gay’. He knew how bad things were at home for Richie. He developed his legendary trash mouth started as a way to cope with everything. He just hated all of the terrible things people said to his best friend.

There was a soft knock at his bedroom door, it was his mother. “Hey, Eds, can you open up, please? I just want to talk,” His mother’s voice was soft. It was never like that. Eddie walked over to the door, unlocking it and opening it slowly.

His mother stood there with watery eyes. She seemed nervous, very nervous. She took a deep breath before exhaling sharply. “Be back as soon as the fireworks are over.”

Eddie was thrilled. His mom actually agreed to let him out! He never thought that would’ve happened in a million years, well, at least until he could get out of that house. He jumped at his mom, hugging her.

“Thank you so much, mom,” Eddie smiled. She hugged him back, looking at him sweetly after he pulled away from the hug. 

“Now go before I change my mind,” Sonia grabbed Eddie one last time, planting a kiss on his forehead before Eddie rushed out of the door. 

He was free, free at last! He ran to catch up with the group, knowing they would be at Bill’s house by now. It wasn’t far from Eddie’s house but it felt like forever at the same time. Surely, soon enough, he was left panting at Bill’s front door. Once he caught his breath, taking a puff of his inhaler, he knocked on Bill’s door.

He heard shuffling footsteps approaching before Bill opened the door. Bill smiled, hugging Eddie tightly.

“I’m so-o glad you ma-ade it, Eddie,” Bill said, his studdering was still there got better. That meant he was doing better in his speech therapy.

“I got in a screaming match with my mom, but it turned out in my favor for once. I have to be home right afterward, but it’s nice to actually hang out with you all!” Eddie radiated pure joy as he entered Bill’s home. He hadn’t been over in a long time, middle school to be exact.

The rest of the group didn’t notice when Eddie walked in, all of them were concentrating on their UNO game. Richie thought he was going to get Bev with a +2 card, but the group had another trick up their sleeves. 

Before Bill rejoined the group, he pulled his cards out of pocket and handed Eddie a +2 card from it. They nodded at each other, mentally planning the perfect entrance. Bev placed down an identical card. Then Ben, next Mike, followed by Stan. Bill had taken his place next to Richie again and also placed down a matching card. Richie groaned loudly, a string of curse after curse coming out of his mouth. He was too busy bitching at the group about ganging up on his that he completely missed Eddie sitting down next to him.

Eddie placed the card that Bill had handed down on the pile, “Well, that’s 7 +2’s. Draw 14 Trashmouth.”

Richie whipped around quickly, dropping his cards as he pulled Eddie in for a hug. He then released Eddie and pushed him. 

“Screw all of you by the way,” Richie flipped the group off. He picked up and cards and drew the 14 from the deck. Ben laid out 7 cards for Eddie, throwing him into the game. 

Richie laid his head on Eddie’s shoulder as they played, but only got shoved off when Eddie caught the other staring at his cards.

Time flew by with the group as they cracked jokes and played games until the time to leave came around. The losers cleaned up their space quickly before handing out of the house. They wanted to get a good spot to view that was also away from the crowd. There wasn’t a doubt that the Bowers group would be there, and none of the losers wanted to deal with them tonight.


End file.
